Alertbirder

Sightings and ideas for nature around Belton and Bradwell Norfolk

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Panda Ants are not actually ants but are rather wasps in the Mutillidae family. The wingless females look like an ant while the male will look like a wasp. This particular wasp is distinct because of its panda like markings. 

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Some lovely juxtapositions to be had between the old fishing huts and winches on the beach compared with the new gaily painted beach huts higher up. The thatched flint church looks out over it all standing tall and strong as the rest decays

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Some lovely juxtapositions to be had between the old fishing huts and winches on the beach compared with the new gaily painted beach huts higher up. The thatched flint church looks out over it all standing tall and strong as the rest decays

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A lovely evening walk along Pakefield cliffs. The sun made everything look crisp and clear. The wind made we want my hat and gloves

[currentsinbiology]

 Stunning science: Wellcome Image Awards 2017 winners

Pigeon thermoregulation

Bright, dramatic and intricate, this image reveals the network of blood vessels in a humble pigeon. Produced from CT scans, the image was made possible by the creator’s development of a novel contrast agent – a type of substance that helps to improve the visibility of structures within the body in medical imaging.

Photograph: Scott Echols/Scarlet Imaging and the Grey Parrot Anatomy Project/2017 Wellcome Image Awards

Vessels of a healthy mini-pig eye

Produced from CT scans and 3D printing, this is a model of the blood vessels of the eye of a miniature pig. A small as 0.02 mm in diameter, the vessels are vital in the delivery of nutrients to muscles which change the size of the pupil, constricting or dilating its size to regulate how much light enters the eye.

Photograph: Peter M Maloca/OCTlab/University of Basel and London Moorfields Eye Hospital; Christian Schwaller, Ruslan Hlushchuk/University of Bern and Sébastien Barré/2017 Wellcome Image Awards

Blood vessels of the African grey parrot

A stunning view of the blood vessels of the African grey parrot, this 3D model was produced through computer modelling of 2D CT scans. The scans were captured by means of the same novel contrast agent developed by Scott Echols - creator of the earlier pigeon image.

Photograph: Scott Birch and Scott Echols/2017 Wellcome Image Awards

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At last the frogs are back and doing what frogs do

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Cranefly caught in spiders web

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Turnstone on Gorlestone pier 

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A lovely walk along the side of Breydon Water this morning. Parked in  the superstore car park and walked under the new bridge towards the hide. Plenty to see with at least 20 little egret, flocks of black tailed godwit, avocet, dunlin, wigeon, shelduck, redshank, curlew, lapwing and golden plover. A coiuple of sparrowhawks were floating around, not really hunting, but enough to disturb the smaller waders. Pleased to see a kingfisher darting through. 

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Beautiful sunny day. Woodland floor carpeted with sweet chestnuts, looking soft and inviting, until you stand on them. Fly agaric positively glowing in the sunshine.

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A couple of parasol mushrooms

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female and young male Mallard sycnchonised feeding

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Man has the greatest influence on the environment, sometimes for the better or through necessity, but just dumping things because you no longer need them; irresponsible, damaging and wasteful. Whilst this area was no beauty spot with a chalk stream, it was a series of ditches and dykes that supported amphibians and small fish as well as numerous invertebrates. 

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 This is the beauty part of my 4 mile dog walk this morning. Green fields, signs of autumn, pretty flowers. Saw plenty signs of nature flourishing: Kingfisher flew by, Jay collecting acorns,  spiders in their webs. If you look at the other blog from today, you will see the Industry and folly of man in the same area

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 Ivy Bee, Colletes hederae , a relative newcomer to our native fauna, first described in 1993 and only in Britain since 2001 or so. It is spreading north. The are a solitary bee, each female builds it’s own cell for it’s young, but they nest in large colonies.. 

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I assume these are the same species of cranefly, the one with the crumpled wings may have just come out of it’s cocoon.

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Very large wasp mimic,  Sericomyia silentis, bog hoverfly. There were up to eight of these beauties feeding on ivy nectar